Harry Potter and the Call of the Eagle: Book 1
by The New Grimm
Summary: Book 2 of the Call of the Houses Trilogy. What would happen if the night of James and Lily's death a couple of details had been changed? What would change for the future? would he even still be in Gryffindor? (Part of a series of fics that run parallel to each other, which you can (its not necessary) read along side each other! (Ravenclaw!Harry)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hi everyone, this is the second installment of my three pronged ripple effect. Meaning I'm going to be writing three different fictions each resulting in a different house (leaving Gryffindor to canon) as a result for Harry in each hopefully novel series. So please read and review and let me know what you think of Harry Potter and the Call of the Eagle Book I

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"Step aside girl" A cold voice sneered, "I just want the boy"

"No please!" She cried. On her knees, she was begging.

She knew it was hopeless, The Dark Lord had heard the prophecy from Severus and assumed it was her son, and once Voldemort set his mind on something, nothing would get in his way. Her husband lay cold and lifeless at the bottom of the stairs, when just a few minutes ago they were smiling, having dinner and talking about taking a vacation after the war was over… where had everything gone wrong? She thought they could trust their secret keeper, knowing that Voldemort would go for her son's godfather they made the switch right before they had gone into hiding, but she couldn't believe that he gave up their location.

The sound of her son crying brought her back to the present, "Please," she begged "Don't take my son, it must have been a mistake please."

"I gave you the chance to get away, to live, but you were too foolish to take it, stupid girl" He raised his wand, and brought it to her eye level, knowing this would be the last chance to have some sort of happy memory before everything faded her thoughts turned towards her son. Her smiling, beautiful, baby boy.

"I love you Neville." Alice Longbottom whispered to her child as Voldemort raised his wand for the killing strike.

"Avada Kedavra!"

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Lily heard the familiar "pop" of apparition and rushed to the window, the wards hadn't gone off but she was still always so worried. Her husband came into view as he walked through the yard with a solemn expression. Something bad had happen, of course something bad was always happening during this war, but James had never come home looking like this, looking so… defeated.

"Sirius!" she called upstairs, her son's godfather came bounding down the stairs, cradling Harry in one hand and wand at the ready in the other. She couldn't help but smile at the look of Harry, wrapped in his blanket sleeping peacefully.

James came through the door, went straight to his wife and hugged her tightly, not daring to let go. She was taken aback for a second, but quickly regained her senses and slightly pushed him away.

"James?" She asked timidly, "What's wrong?"

Her husband fell into an arm chair, Sirius following suit only after giving Lily her son. James looked up, tears threatening to fall from his eyes, "The dark lord has fallen." Lily's heart soared, they were safe… "The Longbottoms are dead…"

**A/N: **So if you might have been able to tell from the title, this novel will feature Harry as a knowledgeable Eagle in the Ravenclaw house. If this plot intrigues you feel free to check out the "call of the Badger" and the "call of the Snake" on my author page. I plan to update these hopefully once a week and have all of the plots run parallel to each other and see what changes in each house. In Case I was too vague, Neville survived and is assumed to be the chosen one…


	2. Growing up a normal child

**A/N: **Just a heads up,In the future, all of the chapters from the Hufflepuff chapters will be released on Tuesdays, with the Ravenclaw chapters being released on Wednesday, and the Slytherin chapters released on Thursday. This allows me to have time to work on all of the chapters over weekends and give each one to my beta(s) to review and get back to me.

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**Chapter Two:** Growing up a normal child

Harry had heard this bedtime story a thousand times before, but it was always his favorite. It boasted of a brave young family of wizards who had a son, of course Harry imagined that this was him. But their son was no ordinary boy, this boy had amazing powers that could get rid of any dark and evil wizards that tried to harm his family or friends. But then, one day an evil and terrifying wizard same to town and demanded that the boy be turned over to him, and the family went into hiding because they knew that this man could very well hurt their son. So their family left town only telling one person where they were going, a peg leg pirate that had a fake eye. Everyone thought that their secret would have been safe, because the pirate hated the evil wizard with all of his might, but one day he told the evil wizard where the family had went in hopes that the dark man would be able to heal his leg and fix his eye.

So the evil wizard went to go find this family and poison their son, but when he got there he found that the father and mother were both very skilled and put up a challenge against his dark magic. Eventually though, the parents were overwhelmed and defeated, but not before the mother cast a love shield over her son, protecting him from any evil that may come his way. The Wizard had not known this piece of information though, if he did, then he might not have pointed his wand at the baby and whispered a terrible curse, because when he did, it bounced of the shield and hit him square in the chest blowing him into a million pieces, saving the world, but destroying the family as well. The End.

Harry always loved hearing this story, but always wondered why the pirate had betrayed his friends just for an arm and an eye. Whenever he would ask his parents though they would share a look, and Harry wasn't quite sure what this look meant, but it always made his dad unhappy and his mom sad so he learned to stop asking that question after a while. But once his dad had left the room and his mother tucked him in for the night she would always assure him that the pirate was locked away on an island in the middle of the ocean, and would never hurt anyone again.

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Harry was the happiest five year old in the world at the moment… well new five year old. His birthday party had been modeled after one of his favorite stories of Merlin's achievements, the sword in the stone. His mother had enchanted a foam sword to be stuck into a chocolate cake square for all of the kids, making it impossible to eat a piece of cake that wasn't yours. She had invited all of his friends from tutoring, including the Patil Twins, Terry Boot, Michael Corner, Blaise Zabini, and Neville Longbottom. The last of these Harry wasn't particularly friends with, but his parents always told him to be nice to Neville because he had done a lot for Harry, even if he didn't know it, but Neville always made sure his friends knew it. Every week around on Tuesdays when their tutoring group went to Diagon Alley during the summer they had to deal with Neville claiming that he used to have to fight off so many people asking for autographs, Harry never believed it but he was sure not to bring it up, out of fear of his mother's retaliation if he ever spoke up about it.

The Longbottoms had always been a touchy subject in the Potter household, Harry grew up being told stories of their bravery and courage during the war. He wasn't sure what this had to do with their son though, Harry had come home on numerous occasions from tutoring where Neville had picked on him for either having glasses, or being smaller than the rest of the boys. Whenever Harry told his parents about the situations his father always told him to brush it off, if he didn't give Neville a reaction he would just get bored of it. His mother on the other hand told him that one day the boy would grow out of being a bully and they would both be friends eventually… Harry seriously doubted that, but he always did what his parents told them and kept up with his studies.

At last the moment Harry had been waiting for had finally come, it was time to open the presents he had received from all of his friends and parent's guests. He got a prank kit from his godfather who said that he would help Harry master the art before he left for Hogwarts in two years; potion kit from one of his Father's coworkers that didn't visit much (The potion professor at Hogwarts); A copy of Merlin's adventures through the middle ages from the Blaise Zabini; a wide assortment of candy ranging from Chocolate frogs to Acid Pops, from his friend Terry Boot; a package of fudge sent in from his mother's friend Mrs. Weasley; a set of charms books from Padma Patil and a maintenance and cleaning kit for all of Harry's books (No matter how bad the damages it would be as good as new!) from Pavarti Patil (who claimed she bought the gift with an allowance she saved up); A remembrall (Which caused Neville to snicker) from his father; and lastly an astronomy set from his mother, who knew that Harry had a habit of waking up in the middle of the night to stare at the stars.

All in all Harry had a great time at his birthday party (even if he did lose a game of exploding snap to Neville), and was sad to see all of his guests leave, but it was time for his family tradition. After all of the guests left through the fire place Harry ran up into his room and started getting dressed for the night. He came back downstairs to see his father coming out of the fireplace after escorting Neville back to his grandmother's house.

"Are you ready Harry?" James needlessly asked because Harry held his father's broom in his hands and was bouncing up and down on his toes almost giddily. His mother just came down the stairs with her broom in hand and all three left through the back door. Harry climbed on the front of his father's broom and the three of them sped off to the country side. Feeling the breeze in his hair was one of his favorite parts of the night, he loved flying with his dad even if his mom always thought the way they flew was a little bit reckless. This was partly Harry's fault, always asking his father to do loop de loops and fly upside-down, but this was part of the thrill of flying, doing dangerous stunts. Eventually they came to a stop at an empty hillside, Lily pulled a blanket out of her bag and they all lay down and stared up at the stars.

"Alright harry which constellation is that?"

"That's the Orion constellation mom"

"Alright how about that one…"

This went on for quite a while until harry got tired and they all flew home, creating the perfect evening for Harry on his birthday, with the perfect family. By the time they got back it was well after Harry's bedtime, which was why he was surprised when his mother made him a cup of hot chocolate and asked to speak with him.

"Harry your father and I have another birthday gift we want to tell you about, but we can't give it to you for a couple months ok?"

This confused harry a little bit, but he played along anyways, after all a gift was a gift, "What is it mom?"

"How would you like to have a little sister?"

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It was close to a week before Christmas and 8 year old Harry sat by the fireplace staring into the flames and just looked to be waiting (his 3 year old sister already in bed). He knew that his father would be home soon, he hadn't seen him since the trip to Hogsmeade his mother had taken him on and he was just waiting to hear all of the stories that couldn't have their excitement captured merely by post. His mother sat down beside him looking between her son, the fireplace, and the open school book that lay on the coffee table.

"You know Harry," she began "staring at the fireplace won't make him floo any faster, finish your homework and then I will make you some cookies and we will wait for him together, ok?"

The young boy begrudgingly hopped off the couch and knelt by the table and began re-reading the passage that had already begun explaining the importance of a wand to a wizard. Harry was always intrigued by the magic of wands and how they were made ever since he tried to get a hold of his father's wand and tried to make a worm he found in the garden turn into a snail (which had failed because a numerous amount of reasons). After his father found out what he had tried to do, he got a Harry had been given a long lecture about wands and why you should never take another wizards wand. By the time Harry had finished his daily reading it was close to two o'clock in the afternoon, and it had started raining. Seeing that her son was back on the couch Lily came back into the room carrying a plate of peppermint encrusted-chocolate chip cookies and a mug of hot chocolate with the Hogwarts logo on it. She placed the cookies and mug on the table and Harry had wormed his way under her arm and they just sat there in silence for a couple minutes.

"You know, those cookies really are best warm, and I doubt your father would mind if we had a few while we waited."

"I know that the plate is charmed to keep the cookies warm mom" he retorted, but took one nonetheless. He took a bite and instantly tasted the warm sweet chocolate with the freshness of the peppermint. He knew that the plate was charmed to keep the cookies at the perfect temperature so that the chocolate would melt in your mouth but not be too hot, but he also knew that his mother believed that the best kind of cookies were made with love and not magic… and so far Harry had to agree.

At that moment the fireplace turned an emerald green and a tall man with unkempt hair stepped through the opening, hung his bag and outer robes at the coat rack by the Christmas tree.

"Are those mom's famous cookies?" the man asked, his face breaking into a devilish grin, "And is that my son who lost the replacement quill I sent you last week?"

Harry rushed up to greet his father with an enormous hug and muttered something about how his father knew that he wasn't good at keeping track of things. It wasn't his fault, he just kept misplacing things around the house… James slumped into the coach, relaxing between the two people that he loved most in the world and recounted his day at work. Lily and Harry had found that the reason he was late was because some students had set off some dung bombs in the corridor outside his office and to find the culprits and give them detention before they could get on the train home. Lily knew that teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts class wasn't easy at Hogwarts, but he always came home with stories that would make Harry laugh without a doubt.

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**A/U:** Buh Buh Naaaaaaah! So that happened! When thinking about this story I came to the conclusion that if both parents had lived I think they would have had or at least tried to have had another child. Don't worry you will be seeing more of the young lady in the next chapter when Harry gets his school supplies! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter consisting mostly of the birthday scene, and other random fluffyness. If you couldn't tell by now in this story I made Neville out to be sort of a… jerk of an 11 year old if you can really be one at this age. I wrote him to be this way because I wanted to play with the idea of what Dumbledore said about Harry in the first book, what would it have been like growing up in the Wizarding community where everyone knows your name, and he wouldn't have the parents Harry has in the other two of my stories telling him to behave properly. You will get a little look at what makes Neville… well Neville in this fic in the upcoming chapter as well don't worry!

If you have any questions or concerns that I haven't answered please feel free to drop a review or a Pm and I will try my best to get back to you with it!


	3. Shopping Trips and Train Rides

**A/N:** Thank you to everyone for all of your reviews and subscriptions, follows and stars, kudos and comments. Every response I get inspires me to continually write to the best of my abilities. I would also like to announce that I have recently acquired another beta for the Call of the Houses trilogy! So I would like to welcome Charlotte of The Beta Service as one of my primary beta readers. So far we have gone through all of my previously released chapters (across all houses) and have cleaned them up plot and grammar-wise. So again, a BIG thank you to Charlotte, and I hope you enjoy chapter 3!

Also I made a change to the previous chapter concerning his sister's age. In order to make her more relevant to the story I changed Harry from being nine years old when she was born, to being 5 years old. This way she will be older when Harry starts going to Hogwarts and actually have an effect on the story rather than just being a little girl that doesn't go to Hogwarts until Harry has already graduated.

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**Chapter 3: **Shopping Trips and Train Rides

Harry was woken up by the sound of the muggle alarm clock his mother had gotten for his birthday just under a year ago, complaining that he had never woken up on time. Today though, it had worked against his mother's wishes. Harry had set the night before to wake him up at the crack of dawn, knowing full well it would annoy his family, but today was the day he 'unofficially' received his Hogwarts letter. After putting his glasses on Harry ran into his parent's room still in his pajamas and jumped up onto their bed, right by his mother's red hair.

"Mom, Dad, wake up! Today I get my letter, c'mon c'mon wake up!"

His father rolled over groggily and grabbed his watch and glasses off of the end table. After the having the world slide into his view James looked down at his watch, "Merlin… is that the time? Well, I do suppose that I have a lot to do today, but we will talk about your behavior later mister."

James lightly shook his wife awake, just in case the noise they had been making hadn't woken her up already.

"James… don't use Merlin's name like that. Harry… you better have a good excuse for waking us up this early."

Being able to tell that his wife was close to snapping at everyone in the room, James picked Harry up and threw him over his shoulder. The younger Potter male was not happy about being carried out of his mother's room and into the kitchen, and he made sure that his father knew it. Once in the kitchen James set Harry down on a chair. Kneeling down next to him to make sure he was on Harry's eye level, his father spoke in a very hushed whisper.

"Ok Harry, I understand that you're excited, but your mother is very, very tired, so you have to keep it down while she sleeps ok? Hopefully you haven't woken up your sister yet."

As if on cue, five year old Iris Violet Potter walked into the kitchen. Her usually straight black hair was a jumbled mess, showing that she had just woken up. Rubbing her eyes she walked over to her dad's shoulder and spoke at a voice just above a whisper.

"Daddy, what's happening?"

"Harry just woke daddy up so he can get ready for his day, we are very sorry if we woke you. Would you like some breakfast?"

She turned her head to glare at Harry with all of the hate a five year old could muster, and without removing her eyes from the boy answered her father's question, "Yes please."

"Lacey!" James called out to the thin are with confidence. Out of nowhere there was a loud "_crack!"_ noise, and a small creature wearing a pressed white pillowcase appeared in the kitchen.

"Lacey is here for Master Potter, she is. Lacey is grateful to be allowed to help the Potters while on summer leave. What can Lacey do for Master Potter this morning? Will young Mister and Missus be liking breakfast today?

James held up a panicked finger to his mouth, instantly the house elf fell quiet, "Thank you very much Lacey, I have a big morning planned today, I have to escort one of the muggle-born students through Diagon Alley today so we are up a bit early. We would all appreciate it if you could make some breakfast, but Lily is sleeping so we need to keep it down ok?"

The house elf started bowing and answering in a hushed whisper, "Ah yes Master Potter, Lacey apologizes for making such a racket earlier. Lacey will get started on breakfast right away she will!"

Harry always enjoyed the summers where the school lent his father a personal house elf to use for whatever he sees fit. This usually meant making breakfast, running small errands, and babysitting the children. James and Lily always taught their children to be kind and respectful to the house elf whenever they had it around, or else James would make sure to never bring one home again. One of the things Harry had enjoyed the most about house elves of course… was the food. Within minutes the tabled was filled with an assortment of breakfast foods from chocolate chip pancakes, to eggs benedict.

James sat down at the head of the table with a cup of coffee in his hands, "What do you say children?"

"Thank you Lacey." Both younger Potters said in unison, Iris even went over to the small house elf and gave it a quick peck on the cheek and a hug, "I love you Lacey"

The house elf, not sure of what to do in this situation, gave a shakey hug back, blushing profusely, "Lacey thanks you very much Missus Potter. You are very kind to Lacey, you are."

Harry started sniggering at the house elf's level of awkwardness, but was quickly shot a glare by his father, "Harry stop that it's not funny. Iris sweetie, come sit down and eat your breakfast before it gets cold. Lacey would you mind waking Lily as peacefully as you can, she may still be a little tired." Bowing to the point where her nose touched the floor Lacey walked to wake up the last sleeping Potter, so as not to make too much noise apparating.

Once again silence rained at the table, everything quiet except the sounds of three mouths chewing their food. A few minutes later a tired Lily Potter walked into the kitchen, although looking very much ready for the day thanks to all of the charms she knew to make herself presentable. She waved her wand and wordlessly straightened her daughter's hair that had still been messy since she had woken up. (Resulting in a small "Thank you mommy" from the youngest Potter.) Lily sat down at the seat directly to the right of James, breaking the silence while buttering a muffin on her plate.

"Good morning honey," she greeted her husband with a kiss on the cheek (making the two children grimace), "What are the plans for today?"

"First I have to drive to the girl's house and explain the plan to the family. I'll have to take the street entrance into the Leaky Cauldron instead of flooing in for obvious reasons. Then, I have to take them to Gringotts and have the goblins explain our currency and the exchange rate for muggle money. I suppose we can meet up after that and get the school shopping done together if you would like?"

"Can I go with you to pick up the girl Dad?"

"No Harry you can meet her the same time your mother and sister do."

"But _Dad_, she is going to be in my school year, can I _pleeeeeease_"

"Harry no, finish your breakfast." The young boy grumbled as he stabbed the rest of his pancakes moodily.

"Are we taking Neville shopping with us too?" Lily asked, they usually went shopping with Neville whenever his grandmother was feeling too frail to leave the house.

"No, his uncle is in town for a while so he will be taking him."

"Oh that's nice."

"Mommy I'm all done, can we go play?" Iris pulled at the hem of her mother's pants.

"Yes I suppose we can dear, but only after you wash your hands." The youngest Potter ran off into the house to go get cleaned up. After Iris left Lily looked to Harry, "Now young man, this girl your father is picking up won't know much about our world, so if she turns to you to ask any question you'll do your best to answer them correct?"

"Yes mother." He replied obediently.

She got up from the table, walked over and gave her son a hug, "You know I love you Harry"

"I love you too mum"

"Good now give your father a hug before he leaves for work."

Harry hopped off of his chair and hugged his father's waist. James knelt down and put a hand on his son's shoulder, "I'll see you in Diagon Alley. Be nice to your sister until then ok?"

"Does that mean I don't have to be nice to her afterwards?" Harry replied cheekily.

"No, you still have to be nice to her then too, now go get cleaned up." James gave Harry's hair a tussle and sent him on his way.

"He is just like his father, always the bully" Lily smiled, wrapping her arms affectionately around her husband's shoulder.

"I always thought he was like you, defending the weak since the age of 6." He gave his wife a quick peck on the lips and her one last goodbye as he left the house and apparated away with a "_Crack!" _right outside the front door.

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Harry and his family stepped out of the Leaky Cauldron and into the sunny streets that were already bustling with wizard foot traffic at ten o'clock in the morning. Harry always loved visiting Diagon Alley, the ideas that wizards came up with always amazed Harry, diamond cauldrons, gum which when you blew a bubble the colors would change, plates that could clean themselves, and the list went on and on. Eventually though, Harry learned not to gawk at the glitz and glam of the wizarding world, and now took more interest in looking around and analyzing the crowd. From where he was standing he could see a crowd of boys his age standing outside the window of the Quidditch store (most likely gawking at the new Nimbus 2000). Further past the boys he could see a family of red-heads (a much more vibrant color than his mother's hair that was for sure) jostling their way up the streets. A little bit to the left of where the family was now Harry could just make out the shape of someone who looked almost exactly like him.

"Dad!" without thinking, Harry ran off through the crowd leaving his mother and sister behind. He greeted his father with a giant hug but was quickly pulled away by a very unhappy Lily Potter.

"Harold James Potter! Don't you dare run off like that again do you understand me! You could have gotten lost or the crowd or could have been hurt. Do you understand why that worries me so much?"

"Yes mum, I'm sorry it won't happen again."

Harry's father chuckled, breaking the silent tension that had formed between the family, "Well as you just met, this is my wife Lily, my son Harry, and our youngest Iris." Harry just now realizing that there was another family standing before them, a nice looking couple with brown hair and nice teeth smiled down at him.

"Ahh so this is the Harry we have heard so much about." The older man began, stepping aside to reveal a girl Harry's age with frizzy brown hair. "Well this is our daughter Hermione, and my wife Jean, and I'm Dan… We are both dentists."

Harry smiled and waved at the Hermione, "It's nice to meet you. You're going to love Hogwarts, it's amazing!"

With that both families stepped into Flourish and Blotts. Hermione marveled at the amount of books that lined the shelves, every single book containing something magical. After collecting all of their books for school Hermione's head was still looking from shelf to shelf.

While her father was purchasing her supplies she tugged on his pantleg, "Dad?" she asked shyly, "Can I stay here and look at books while you go get the rest of my supplies?"

Her father looked unsure for the moment. Harry, wanting to make his new friend's first magical experience an enjoyable one spoke up, "I can stay with her sir, if that's alright with you."

Mr. Granger smiled down at his daughter ("Wow his teeth are amazing" Harry thought), "Of course you can sweetie, but only if Mr. Potter allows Harry to stay here with you, I don't want you getting lost."

James looked at his son, a bit surprised at his selflessness, he knew Harry always enjoyed walking around Diagon Alley during the day. After seeing the look in his son's eye, his father couldn't help but concede, "That's very nice of you Harry, we will be back in 30 minutes to pick you up to get fitted for your robes, and wands."

Once their parents were gone Harry took Hermione all around the bookstore, showing her his favorite books, from stories of the middle ages to books about the inventions of spells, he had never had this much fun with a friend before. Eventually the two kids found their way to a pair of comfy looking armchairs in the back of the shop, and settled down reading books about the founding of Hogwarts and some of its earliest inhabitants. Eventually Harry's father found them and they had to return the books to where they found them and exit the shop.

After getting fitted for their robes, and receiving their wands, (Harry received a Holly and Pheonix feather wand, and Hermione received a wand with Vinewood and Dragon heartstring) the two families decided to take a break at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. The parents opted to sit at one table while the children were left to sit at another. After discussing the charms placed on Hogwarts for protection the adults decided it was time to leave.

Before parting ways Harry broke away from his parents to run up to Hermione and hand her a book, "Here, I thought you might want to read up on Hogwarts while you are at home. If you have any questions, be sure to write!" Then the young boy disappeared as quickly as he had shown up, leaving Hermione looking down at the book title.

"Hogwarts: A History?" She smiled

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Harry's summer had flown by quickly after meeting his new friend. It seem close to every day that they would exchange letters (bringing on a lot of teasing from his sister and father), but it was simply because every day Hermione found some new question she wanted answered. On some occasions Hermione stopped by the house to get private lessons about the wizarding world from Harry's father, after all he would be teaching her in a few months. Eventually the summer came to an end and September first arrived, leaving Harry to use his muggle alarm clock again to wake up at dawn, and he still managed to take until the last minute getting packed. He double, triple checked all of his items, knowing full well he would get an earful if he had to have his mother mail any items to him

"Harry!" He heard his father calling from downstairs, "If you don't hurry up you'll miss the train! And I doubt you want to be the only first year personally escorted to the feast!"

Harry appeared at the top of the stairs not quite knowing how to get down with all of his things, until his father called out for a house elf, "Lacey!"

With a pop the house elf appeared at the bottom of the stairs, "How may Lacey help Master and Mister Potter this morning?"

"Lacey can you take Harry's things to my personal quarters at Hogwarts, I'll have them brought up to his house after he is sorted."

"Yes of course Master Potter, that is a very wise decision it is!" The house elf ran up the stairs, grabbed Harry's trunk by the handle, and was gone as quickly as she came.

Harry looked down to see his father smiling up at him, "Alright, alright come on then, your mother and sister are already waiting in the car."

The two Potters exited the house to find a sleek black car with tinted windows. Harry had never ridden in a car before and wasn't quite sure what to do… He didn't realize he was staring until his father cleared his throat, signaling for Harry to get into a door that had just opened on the side. Once situated in the back seat by his sister, Harry saw his father press a knob on the center dash and speak into it.

"Kings Cross Station."

In the blink of an eye the car lurched to life, and with engine purring they took off down the street. Weaving in and out of the side streets the family arrived at the train station in no time. Harry and his family got out of the car, and started walking towards the station, they had been halfway towards the barrier protecting the hidden platform when Harry saw a familiar face.

"Hermione!"

"Harry! Oh thank goodness you're here; we weren't quite sure how to get to the platform. Do you know how to get there? Oh of course you do, how silly of me, father is a professor at the school. Harry where are your things? Don't tell me you forgot them. Oh no that would be silly you're father must have them doesn't he?" She said all of this very fast, sending Harry's mind for a loop.

"Hello miss Granger, you can follow me to the platform." His father started explaining all of the secrecy to the parents, "So in order for Hogwarts to make it easy for Muggleborn students, much like yourself, to get to school on the first day they needed to provide transportation in a place that most muggles knew of, hence Kings Cross station. However, they very well couldn't just have the means of transportation be in an open area for just everyone to see, so they chose to hide it from prying eyes, so they came up with this solution."

The two families stopped in front of a rectangular stone pillar where they stood in silence. Mr. Granger was the first to speak.

"Alright, I'll admit, I am completely and utterly confused. How does this get us to the train, and how does this pillar hide anything when I can see to the other side if I take a step to the left."

James chuckled, "Well no sane person would run at a wall. You wouldn't would you?"

"Of course not!"

Harry got a nod from his father and started running full speed at the wall ahead of him. He heard a gasp from behind him as the his face connected to stone and the world around him melted, then came back into focus revealing a scarlet steam engine, the Hogwarts express. Harry couldn't help grinning like a fool, he was finally going to Hogwarts after waiting year after year he was finally going. He was jolted out of his stupor by Hermione running into him after she came out of the barrier.

"Oh wow… this is… wow."

Harry smiled, surprised that something finally left the brunette speechless, "I know huh."

Harry's mother and sister came through next, shortly followed by James and the Grangers in each arm…

"… steam engine. Ah alright you let's get these two ready to go." With that the seven of them started walking down the platform towards the entrance of the train. "Alright Harry let's give the Grangers a moment alone to say goodbye to their daughter. I'm sure your mother and sister would like a word with you before you go also."

The Potters walked along the train, Lily fussing over Harry's hair (of all things) when they came to a door, James was the first to speak.

"Alright Harry make sure you don't cause any trouble on the train, I don't need to get a letter about you before you even get to the school" he said jokingly

Iris surprised Harry by hugging him tightly, "Make sure you write every day ok Harry?"

"Ok Iris, every day, I promise."

After getting the younger girl detached from her brother Lily knelt down to speak to Harry, "Now make sure you have fun ok?" she began, her eyes starting to water up, "And if you need anything be sure to write, you know you can come to me for anything. Make sure to look after Hermione, Hogwarts can be very intimidating for Muggleborns. Do you remember how to re-enlarge your robes?"

"Yes mum, take them out of my pocket and tap them twice with my wand, I remember."

"Okay, just making sure you have everything. Give me a hug, and what do I always say?"

"Knowledge is nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Good boy," she said with one last kiss on Harry's cheek, "now get on the train before it leaves without you."

"I love you mum"

"I love you too Harry."

Once getting on the train Harry found a compartment that faced the platform. Feeling the train lurch forward he started waving to the family he was leaving behind, only to have them disappear after taking a turn two minutes later. Then just like that, Harry was alone.

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Trying to find someone once the train started moving was a pain, especially if you were as tall as harry, who was short even compared to kids his age. Eventually though, Harry found a first year girl being bustled around by older kids running back and forth with their friends. Coming closer he could see her clutching a book close to her chest as though her life depended on it.

"Hermione!" he waved his hand hoping to get the girls attention, "I have a compartment follow me!"

The younger girl smiled up at her savior and wordlessly followed him farther into the train, into an empty compartment.

"Thank you Harry, honestly it's a madhouse out there."

The compartment door slammed open revealing Terry Boot and Padma Patil who had been arguing. "He did not bring a tarantula onto the train!" the girl began, slamming the compartment door shut again, "Honestly, don't believe everything you hear Terry … Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize Harry had other friends in here." She gave Harry an expectant look and nodded her head towards Hermione.

"Oh, Hermione this is Terry Boot and Padma Patil, we've had the same tutor since grade school. Padma, Terry, this is Hermione Granger we met in Diagon Alley buying school supplies"

They shook hands and the two new arrivals sat down, opposite of Hermione and Harry, "So kind of work do your parents do? I'm surprised that you haven't been at any of our tutoring sessions if your parents know Harry's"

Hermione looked shy when responding, "Oh umm… my parents are dentists… they don't exactly…"

"Oh I see, you're a muggleborn" Terry pointed out

Hermione's face paled, not quite knowing what to expect from the other kids. She had read all about muggleborn prejudice that had taken place over the past couple of decades, but there hadn't been anything written about how eleven year olds may react.

"That's brilliant!" Terry exclaimed, then turned his attention to Padma, "Where is your sister, I thought she was going to be joining us?"

"She decided to sit with Lavender Brown and the Bones girl, they are gossiping about Neville Longottom being on the train."

As if on cue the compartment door slammed open yet again, this time Neville came through the door, chest puffed out, followed by a red-headed boy with a tear streaked face. Neville took the opportunity to interrupt any conversation they may be having, "Have any of you seen a rat? Ron seems to have lost his."

Hermione chose this moment to speak up, "I didn't know you could have Rats at Hogwarts?"

Neville narrowed his eyes at the girl he hadn't met yet, "You can… if they are a family pet, and that wasn't the question I asked. Have you seen the rat or haven't you?"

Sensing the compartment get rather tense Padma glared at Neville, "No we haven't seen the rat Neville, now get lost."

"Where are your manners miss Patil, I was having a conversation… I'm Neville _Longbottom" _The young boy put an emphasis on the last name hoping for some sort of reaction from Hermione, after getting nothing he continued, "I haven't seen you in our tutoring sessions… what's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Hermione Granger… my parents are dentists!" she said matter of factly.

Neville stared in silence, not able to tell if the girl was making fun of him with her response or not, "Well… alright then…" and he left, without uttering another word, taking the Ron with him. After the two had left the talks turned to the sorting ceremony and houses they would be placed in.

"I'm not sure," Terry began, "I've heard that the Hufflepuff common room is close to the kitchens, so I would have no problem getting a snack"

Padma rolled her eyes at the boy's comment, "You _would_ choose a house just because you could get food whenever you wanted. _Boys, _ugh"

"From what I've read Ravenclaw seems interesting, but I also think Gryffindor is an alright house, that way I won't be teased for being smart." Hermione stated, leaving the compartment quiet.

"My mother always said," Harry broke the silence, "Knowledge is nothing to be embarrassed about. So I suppose I wouldn't mind Ravenclaw, but my family has always been in Gryffindor."

Eventually the pink sky faded into a dark blue, and Harry's suspicions they were getting close to the school when the compartment door slide open to reveal a girl wearing a blue robes and a prefects badge, "We will be arriving shortly, so you may want to get changed into your robes." After receiving looks from the girls, Harry and Terry both went to the compartment next door to change. After finishing they came right back, just in time too, because the train came lurching to a stop as soon as they had closed the door.

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As soon as the train had stopped people pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a loud booming voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

Harry followed the sound of the voice until his eyes came to rest on the tallest, hairiest man he had ever seen. From all of the stories his father had told him, he assumed he had finally come face to face with Hagrid, the groundskeeper that his father had always had tea with after getting in trouble.

"C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Ron, the boy who kept losing his rat, sniffed once or twice.

"Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry, Padma, Hermione, and Terry and squeezed into one boat, noticing that Neville had still been stuck with Ron, and a smug looking Draco Malfoy

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then - FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

"Oy, you there! Is this your rat?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Scabbers!" cried Ron blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer rat?" Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

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**A/N:** And there you have it! Harry has arrived at Hogwarts and you have been introduced to plenty key characters. As you might have been able to tell, Neville has grown arrogant, embracing The-boy-who-lived fame, and he used that fame to coerce Ron into being his lackey. What had Draco been so smug about on the boat ride? I'm not sure, read the next chapter to find out!

To those of you who may be concerned about what houses everyone will be sorted into, that will be coming up in the next chapter so you won't have to wait long! That being said, expect a significantly sorter chapter next week involving only the sorting and Harry's days before classes start. However I do plan on going into greater details when it comes to the start of term feast, and I plan on introducing you to more and more Ravenclaw students!

Also, one more big thank you to my beta Charlotte, and don't forget to leave a review or drop a PM!


	4. The Sorting Hat

**A/N: ** A Big thank you to everyone who has given feedback on all of these fics, it is greatly appreciate while being very motivational for me to continue writing. (Also the fact that where I'm staying has the internet shut off at nine gives me plenty of time to write as well...) Another thank you, to my Beta Charlotte who reads through these chapters and gives every one of them a good cleaning.

Now this next chapter deals with the sorting, it is one of the chapters I always have a fear of writing because I feel that the Sorting Hat's dialogue is particularly challenging. But it's something inevitable that I have to tackle! So I hope you enjoy! That being said, a lot of this is going to be similar to canon because Harry acting different wouldn't really change what would be happening when he arrives. P.S.: loving all of the reviews!

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**Chapter 4: **The Sorting Hat

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagstone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right -the rest of the school must already be here - but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall, "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber. Harry swallowed, "How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

Harry's heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole school? But he didn't know any proper magic yet, all he had managed to do was blow up a few pots with accidental magic, and his father wasn't pleased… what on earth would he have to do? He hadn't expected something like this the moment they arrived.

He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified, too. No one was talking much except Hermione, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need. Harry tried hard not to listen to her. He'd never been more nervous, never, not even when he had been yelled at by the portrait of Mrs. Black that hung in Sirius' home yelled at him. He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom. Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air, several people behind him screamed.

"What the ...?"

He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and translucent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say, what are you all doing here?" A ghost wearing a ruffled shirt and tights had suddenly noticed the first years. Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?" A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, with Terry Boot behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Harry had always heard tales from his father but could never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting.

These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them.

The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History" which caused Harry to smirk, she had read the book he gave her.

It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens. Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Yet Harry couldn't help but believe that this hat was immensely important.

Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it, Harry thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing - noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffis are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Harry heard a voice exclaim behind him, "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Harry smiled and gave his father a weak wave. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but he did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching. The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. There was a moments pause

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!" Terry pushed his was past Harry, looking pale as a ghost

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see a pair of twin brothers catcalling.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. Perhaps it was Harry's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but he thought they looked like an arrogant lot. He was starting to feel definitely sick now.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

Harry watched in anticipation, the hat seemed to be staying silent for quite a long time. Hermione's brow was furrowed in concentration, looking like she was in a heated debate. After a long wait the hat opened its 'mouth' and exclaimed "RAVENCLAW!"

A horrible thought struck Harry, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous. What if he wasn't chosen at all? What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train?

When Neville Longbottom was called, the boy strode forward with chest stuck out with pride, and had the arrogance to wave to the tables full of students. The entire hall was buzzing with whispers.

"Longbottom, did she say?"

"The Neville Longbottom?"

While the hat was being placed on his head the entire hall was craning to get a look at the boy with the scarred forehead. Harry couldn't help being a bit jealous, what had Neville done to earn so much interest? All he did was mysteriously survive a curse, no one even knew how… Finally the hat spoke with a booming voice.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

He took off the hat and strutted toward the Gryffindor table. Harry couldn't help but notice that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. A red headed prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while a set of twins that looked rather like the prefect yelled, "We got Longbottom! We got Longbottom!" Neville sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff Harry had seen earlier. The ghost patted Neville's arm, Harry smirked seeing the other boy shiver uncomfortably. That smirk quickly vanished when he heard a name…

"Potter, Harry."

Harry willed his legs to walk forward to the stool, the last thing he saw before the hat slipped over his eyes was reassuring smile from his father.

"Hmm, another Potter" said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, A my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting... So where shall I put you?"

Harry gripped the edge of the stool till he was sure his knuckles were turning while, Not Gryffindor, just Not Gryffindor.

"Not Gryffindor, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Gryffindor will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that - no? Well, if you're sure… better be…"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Ravenclaw table, who was cheering the loudest by far. In fact, all houses were applauding politely as he made is way towards the Eagle's table. He decided to sit down next to Hermione, whom had already struck a conversation with a prefect.

When Harry sat down the prefect looked to him and shook his hand vigorously, "Harry Potter? As in Professor Potter's son?"

"Uuh yes… that would be me." He said sheepishly

"Pleasure to meet you Harry, I'm Robert Hilliard, fifth year Ravenclaw prefect. But you can call me Rob, or Robby… or really just Hilliard anything is fine."

Harry just smiled, gave the older boy a nod, and turned his attention back to the hat. He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat his father, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs up. Harry grinned back. And there, in the center of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognized him at once from all of the Chocolate Frog cards he had. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. Harry glanced at a pale, twitching young man who seemed immensely nervous. He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban.

And now there were only three people left to be sorted. "Thomas, Dean," a Black boy even taller than Ron, joined Neville at the Gryffindor table. "Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now, causing Susan to hide her giggling beneath her mouth. "Gryffindor!" they watched as the boy nearly fainted beside one of his brothers as "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realized how hungry he was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.

"Is he a bit mad?" he asked Robert uncertainly.

"Mad?" said Robert airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

Harry's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs. Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat. It was all delicious.

"That does look good," said a ghost wearing a plain dress, watching Harry cut up his steak,

"Can't you -?"

"I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? The Grey Lady, at your service. Resident ghost of Ravenclaw Tower, and daughter of our founder as well."

"So - new Ravenclaws… I do hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? We have had some trouble winning in the past you might say. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row, The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable - he's the Slytherin ghost." Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.

"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Terry Boot with great interest, he had somehow found his way to sitting across from Harry.

"_It's not polite_," The Grey Lady snapped, glaring at the boy, "_To ask how a ghost died young man_!"

Terry just grimaced and went back to eating, not wanting to anger the ghost any more than he already had. When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding. As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families.

"I'm a half-blood," said Michael Corner, "My mother told my father she was a witch after a year of dating, he didn't believe her. Well I should say he didn't believe her until they got married and she brought out her wand at the honeymoon"

"What about you, Anthony?" said Terry Boot.

"I'm a half-blood also," said Anthony Goldstein, a blond boy who was a bit bigger than Harry, "but my mother was a muggle-born witch, so they both obviously knew about magic."

Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. The twitchy professor, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin. It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past the other professor's turban straight into Harry's eyes...

"Who are those two professors up there?" he asked Robert Hilliard.

"Oh, well the one in the turban is Professor Quirell the astrology teacher. He used to be very good until he came back from Romania before last year, but then his lessons became all book work. No wonder he's looking so nervous though, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to - everyone knows he's after your father's job, people say that's why he is angry all the time. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."

Harry watched Snape for a while, but Snape didn't look at him again. At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent. "Ahern - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. "First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Gryffindor table. "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. "And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did. "He's not serious?" he muttered to Robert.

"Must be," said Robert, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere – the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed. Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

And the school bellowed:

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot."

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, two twins at the Gryffindor table were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Ravenclaw first years followed Robert through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up a grand marble staircase. Harry's legs were like lead again, but only because he was so tired and full of food. He was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice the prefect led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. Harry was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt after climbing up a spiral staircase and looked at a bronze eagle knocker.

"This," Robert made a grand gesture pointing out the door, "Is the Ravenclaw entrance, in order to enter one must answer a riddle from the bronze knocker… If you can't answer the riddle then you must wait until someone comes a long that can… Easy enough?"

Harry nodded along with the rest of the first years.

"Very well… let's have one of you try to open it, you are of course all free to help, but you may not want to be here when a higher year student knocks, since for some reason their riddles always seem harder… even though we are told they are all the same… Anyways, I digress, how about we have," Robert's eyes landed on Harry and broke into a grin, "Potter! You're a professor's son, let's see what you're made of."

Harry stepped forward from the crowed and stood in front of the knocker, "Umm…"

Suddenly the Eagle's mouth opened, "I have two bodies, yet I am joined as one. I stand still and can still run quicker than some. What am I?"

Harry racked his brain, not wanting to look foolish in front of his new classmates. Why did Robert have to choose him, he didn't want any special treatment just because his father was a teacher here, his father wasn't even in Ravenclaw when he was a student, he was in Gryffindor! However Harry felt as though this wouldn't be the first time this prejudice may happen in this house because of his father… no he believed it would happen time after time… Time!

"You're an hourglass!"

"I can sense this one is very wise." The eagle said cryptically, and the door swung open.

All of the first years stepped into through the door in amazement. It as a wide, circular room, with a midnight blue carpet, arched windows hung with blue and bronze silks, and a domed ceiling was painted with the stars of the night. Harry glanced around the room, the walls were lined with bookshelves, and old tapestries, he knew that he could definitely call this place home while he was here.

After Robert closed the door there as a burst of applause from the center of the room, Harry looked to see the center of the common room had armchairs and sofas all arranged in the shape of a circle, making sure that everyone could see and hear each other at all times. Sitting in throughout those chairs, were six people Harry hadn't met at the feast before, but he could see in the candle light that they all had badges pinned to their chests.

"Who did you have answer the riddle Hilliard?" Asked a tall boy sitting in the tallest armchair, making it look as though it were a throne.

"Potter's son… wanted to see if he had an edge on the others."

"Professor Potter's?" Asked a girl with black hair.

"No, Penelope, the other Potter you know… yes Professor Potter's son…"

"Don't you take that tone with me Robert!"

"Enough…" said a beautiful girl sitting next to the "throne", even though she hadn't spoken loudly the room fell into a hush, "Welcome first years, please have a seat on the floor in the middle of the circle. Hilliard, you may take your seat next to Clearwater, and try to keep it down."

The first years heard the prefect scoff as they all moved to the center of the circle and sat down, not knowing where to face Harry turned his attention back to the girl.

"For those of you who don't already know me, my name is Luisa Craftford, I am the seventh year Ravenclaw prefect, second in my class, only to the person sitting on my right. The purpose of this meeting is to give you a sense about how things work here in this house, all of those you see sitting on these chairs have earned their spot and are the top in their form. Henceforth they are to be respected and obeyed… Now, I motion for the first year meeting to commence, anyone opposed to the motion, no? Alright let's begin… We will now go around and introduce ourselves, our roles, and our ranks, starting to my right."

The tall boy stood from his chair and now seemed to tower over the first years, "My name is Felix Bruntsworth, I am the male seventh year prefect, and I am ranked 1st of the seventh years, and of all of the Ravenclaw students."

Next Luisa stood, "You just met me, my name is Luisa Craftford, I'm the female seventh year prefect, I am ranked 2nd of the seventh years, and 2nd of the all of the Ravenclaw students."

After Luisa stood another girl, with brown hair and an airy voice, "My name is Lilac Grant, I am the Female sixth year prefect for Ravenclaw. My rank is 1st out of the sixth years, 6th out of all Ravenclaw students, and 1st in all of the sixth year Ravenclaws, rather confusing isn't it?"

Next stood a broad shouldered boy that as sitting beside her on the couch, Harry felt as though he wasn't easily intimidated, "My name is Michael Cravis, I'm the sixth year male prefect, I'm ranked 3rd out of the sixth years, 2nd in my Ravenclaw class, and 9th out of all of the Ravenclaws. Oh, and I also play beater on the Quidditch team." He flashed a grin to the boy sitting on Felix's right.

The girl that sat next to Robert stood, "My name is Penelope Clearwater, I'm your fifth year prefect, I'm ranked 1st in my year, 1st out of my class of Ravenclaws, and 18th out of all of the Ravenclaws."

Robert took his time standing, cracking his knuckles, "As all of you already know, my name is Robert Hilliard, you can all call me Robert, Robby, Rob, Hill, Hilly, Hilliard Hil…"

"Get on with it!" shouted Michael Cravis.

"Alright alright big guy, settle down… I'm am your fifth year Ravenclaw prefect, I am ranked 5th out of the fifth years, 4th out of the Ravenclaws in my year, and 23rd out of all of the Ravenclaws. I like long walks on the beach, but I don't like getting wet, so I tend to avoid the la…"

"Sit down Hilliard…" came Felix's voice calling over the fifth year's.

Next stood the boy that had been sitting on Felix's right the entire time, he flashed all of the new students a caring smile, "Hi everyone, my name is Gregory Hall, I myself am not a prefect at all, but the Ravenclaw Quidditch team captain. I am a sixth year student, I'm not quite sure what my rank is school wide, I haven't bothered to check it. I do however know that I am ranked 5th in my year of Ravenclaws and 15th out of all Ravenclaws."

The Quidditch captain then put his hand to the side of his mouth and continued in mock whisper, "Don't worry if you're intimidated by all of this mumbo jumbo, everyone goes through this their first year… even old Felix Felicis… I mean Bruntsy here. If all of these stuffy prefects scare you don't be afraid to approach me with any questions, I always…"

"That's enough Greg, thank you, but some of us would like to go to bed before daybreak." Luisa managed to cut off the boy, "Now, to continue on we will have Felix explain the rank system, Felix?"

The seventh year prefect stood once again, "As you might have noticed all of those sitting before you are very high ranked in their class and house-class respectively, besides Gregory here of course." This resulted in a "Hey!" from the Quidditch player, but the older boy ignored the response and carried on.

"On our bulletin board we have a list of names for each year of Ravenclaw students, yours will be added tomorrow of course. Each list is organized by how well your grades are, at the top of the list is the student with the highest grade average, at the bottom of the list… you get the point. Every two weeks the list will be magically upgraded, and depending on how well you have been doing in your classes you may move up or down respectively. Beside your name you will find your Ravenclaw form rank, since you are all first years and it is your first day, you will all have be ranked 1st until the first two weeks after classes have resumed. Now, here is where you may get confused, every month there will be a test-prep in the common room for first year to NEWT level exams, it is mandatory for _all_ Ravenclaw students to be there, regardless of what year you may be. This is to of course, rank you overall for all Ravenclaw students, since you are all first years don't expect to get past rank 55, let alone past 60. As of right now there are 73 Ravenclaw students… I can guarantee one of you will be ranked 73 after the first month, do not be discouraged but motivated to work harder to increase your standing… Have I confused any of you yet?"

He glanced around the center of the circle, after no one spoke up he continued, "I can see this class may very well upset the second years… That's good, puts them on edge. Now, the house of Ravenclaw prides itself in knowledge, so as you may understand rank is very, very important to us. So, we have a reward system around the tower based on rank… if someone is sitting in a chair you wish to study in, then you may pull rank if you're above them, however if someone they are studying with outranks you they are allowed to stay, this means you should always try studying in groups as to not get kicked out of your preferred spot. Now as you may have come to the assumption that since you are first years this may leave you with some uncomfortable studying areas… You would assume correctly, but that is how our house works, everyone above you has earned their position. That is all I have to say about ranks, any questions, no? Listen to Luisa for the rules."

Luisa took a piece of parchment out of her and began to read from it.

"1. Knowledge is power

2. Obey the rank system

3. Treat those above you with respect and those below with graciousness

4. Those who don't ask questions won't receive answers

5. At least 4 hours a week must be spent studying (preferably in groups)

6. No non-Ravenclaw students allowed in the common room during study periods

7. Represent your house with pride."

Luisa folded the paper and looked to the first years, "I feel as though all of those were self-explanatory don't you? Now I want to take a moment to explain a program exclusive to our house. In order to help you understand the school and how things work around here we assign all first years a tutor or councilor you might say, as they are supposed to provide you with council… You may approach your councilor with any problems or questions you might have… and we will assigned those to you now…"

Harry frowned in confusion; they would be assigned a councilor now? But how? Would they have to duel one another? Is there going to be a written exam? He looked around the room to see that the rest of the first years seemed anxious too. Not wanting to be blindsided Harry raised his hand.

"Potter?" asked Felix, "What is it…"

"Umm… I was just curious…" Harry audibly gulped from nervousness, "How are you going to be assigning us councilors?"

"Don't worry, all of us sitting know quite a bit about this school, so you are going to be assigned a councilor from the seven of us. And since there are… 12 of you, each of us will be getting two, with two of us having only one… Luisa the list?"

"Boot, Terry… stand."

Terry stood, all eyes were on him now… what were they going to have him do? Harry wasn't sure if Terry knew any spells yet, actually he was almost sure that the boy hadn't opened his books this summer, choosing to play Quidditch instead… all of the first years waited to hear Terry instructed to do something overly complicated when they heard Michael Cravis, the sixth year prefect speak up.

"I'll take him…"

Luisa gave Terry a warm, motherly smile, "Terry you may go stand behind Michael's seat."

"Brocklehurst, Mandy"

The girl that was sitting behind Harry stood. Quickly Lilac, the other sixth year spoke with a giggle, "Dibs!" Mandy looked confused at the silliness of the older girl, but shuffled off behind her nonetheless.

Harry began to space out as they called name after name until they reached, "Granger, Hermione". Harry wasn't sure but it seemed to take a few seconds longer than the other kids until Luisa spoke up, "Hermione you'll be with me." Causing the first year to grin, of course Hermione would be ecstatic to be paired up with the smartest girl in school. Harry wasn't quite sure who else she would rather be with. Then Harry was hit with a worrisome thought, what if no one wanted him… would he be an outcast of the house, forever doomed to be at the bottom of the list. All these thoughts went flying through his head when he heard the name.

"Potter, Harry"

Harry shakily got to his feet, he had barely stood up when he heard Robert's voice call from behind him, "I want Potter."

Harry grinned, happy that someone would be taking him under his wing. He turned to walk in Robert's direction when a voice from behind him spoke up.

"I'm pulling rank on Hilliard, I want Potter…"

"C'mon Hall!" Robert interrupted, "I called him first, you aren't even a prefect, why should you get him?"

"Rule number 2 Hilliard… Obey they rank system, I outrank you, deal with it…" Harry was getting concerned the tone in the Quidditch captain's voice, he seemed so soft spoken before, "Also, since I am not a prefect as you so kindly pointed out… I'm offering to only take Potter as my first year, and no one else, any objections?"

No one spoke, but Harry could hear Robert mumbling behind him now.

"Alright then." Hall continued, "Harry, come sit beside me on the couch."

Harry nervously walked over to the sofa where Greg sat alone and sank into it beside him. Harry watched one by one as his friends and housemates were sorted up amongst the prefects, he took notice that all of the boy prefects had two boys each (aside from Felix, who had a boy and a girl), and all of the girl prefect had two girls each except for Luisa, who only had Hermione. As Harry looked around the room he soon realized that he was the only first year sitting _inside_ the circle, the rest were behind their councilors respectfully.

After they had all been sorted for the second time of the night Luisa stood again, "I hope you all get well acquainted with your councilors as you will be with them for the entire year. Also you may be wise to take note that your rank speaks very highly of the older student taking care of you. You will all attend the monthly prefect meeting with your prefects so that you may come understand how our policies work, in case you are chosen to be a prefect when the time comes. That concludes our meeting, motion for adjournment?"

Harry saw his councilor's hand shoot up, "Seconded."

Felix stood up, "Meeting adjourned. I would like to be the first to congratulate you all in becoming a member of the cleverest, quirkiest, and most interesting house of Hogwarts. Boys your dormitory is the door to the left of the blue tapestry with an I on it, girls you are to the right. You will find that all of your items have been brought up for you already, and that your four-poster beds are covered with a sky blue, silk eiderdown. If you hear whistling in coming from the windows do not be alarmed, it is just the wind flowing throughout your room, many people find it to be relaxing and helps them sleep. You will all be eating breakfast with your councilor in the morning, try to get up early as to not inconvenience them… Goodnight."

Harry got up from his seat at the couch and felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned around to see Gregory Hall looking down at him.

"Not to alarm you, but I have a meeting in the morning with the rest of the Quidditch team from last year. So you'll be eating breakfast with us, don't worry though they are nice blokes for the most part. After breakfast I'll give you the rundown on how this year is going to plan out for us. Get a good night's rest, see you in the morning."

Harry gave Gregory a smile and followed the rest of the boys his age into their dormitory. Seeing that the rest of them were drawing the curtains for their beds instead of talking to each other Harry did the same, nervous about what would come the next morning.

**RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR**

**A/N: **So last chapter when I said that this chapter would be a short one… I apparently lied… whoops. I feel as though the Ravenclaw students would want to get their meeting out of the way instead of waiting for the next morning. But there you go, I wanted to give each house a way they treated the first years and this is how Ravenclaw does it. If the ranking system isn't clear I will go more in depth with it next chapter so don't worry. Also This weeks Ravenclaw Riddle was brought to you by Kshanika, thanks Kshanika!"

As always thank you to my beta Charlotte, who always works hard, correcting my mistakes. I also just wanted to thank everyone for their support in this project that I'm doing, I have many many plans for the futures, and it takes three times as long to write chapter for this fiction since I am writing it for three different universes. So that being said thank you very much for your reviews and PM's they are greatly appreciated. To those of you following or favorite-ing the story feel free to drop a review and let me know what you think!


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